Taliban's Haqqani wades into ‘Twitter vs Threads’ war. ‘…intolerant policy like Meta’
Anas Haqqani, a leader of the Taliban setup in Afghanistan, has expressed support for Twitter, citing its freedom of speech and public nature.
Amid the ongoing debate over ‘Twitter vs Threads’, the microblogging platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk has found an unlikely supporter in the Haqqani Network, the Islamist group that wields enormous power in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Anas Haqqani, one of the top leaders of the Taliban setup in Kabul, said that Twitter has two advantages over other social media platforms, asserting that other platforms cannot replace it.
“The first privilege is the freedom of speech. The second privilege is the public nature & credibility of Twitter,” Haqqani said. “Twitter doesn't have an intolerant policy like Meta. Other platforms cannot replace it.”
Haqqani Network is one of the main factions of the Afghan Taliban and Twitter has been their preferred social media platform because of its content moderation policy.
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc.'s has taken the social media race by storm after the launch of its new microblogging platform Threads, which many see as an answer to Twitter. Threads has rocketed to 100 million users in less than a week, Zuckerberg announced on Monday.
“Threads reached 100 million sign ups over the weekend,” Zuckerberg said in a post. “That’s mostly organic demand and we haven’t even turned on many promotions yet. Can’t believe it’s only been 5 days!”
The text-centric service closely resembles Twitter in look and functionality, earning the displeasure of Twitter owner Elon Musk who has accused it of being a copycat and an “Instagram minus pics.” The two billionaire owners have traded jibes in recent weeks and Threads is now at the centre of an intensifying rivalry.
hreads still lacks a number of basic features, such as a chronological feed composed solely of people you choose to follow, but it provides a very familiar experience and doesn’t yet have any advertising.
